YOU CAN PLAY GUITAR

Beginner eBook

written by David Taub

Copyright © 2015 Epic Guitar Instruction. All rights reserved
Unauthorized replication or distribution strictly prohibited
 EPIC GUITAR INSTRUCTION
Hello - David Taub here and I would like to take a moment to thank you for your interest in my
instructional products. I am so excited to help you along on your guitar journey. Whether you have
been playing for a little while or are just starting from scratch, I am totally confident that my lessons
will help you achieve your guitar goals, and get you playing guitar and having fun.

I think you will find that my teaching methods are some of the best available. I have successfully
taught thousands and thousands of students all over the world. I teach all levels, from students who
have never touched a guitar, on through advanced players, so I recognize the entire spectrum of
guitar education and learning.

Teaching a wide array of students allows me to see the common challenges that all students face
when learning the instrument. This gives me unique insights on creating exercises and lesson plans
to help students overcome these challenges and get them playing the guitar in the fastest and most
efficient manner.

So I know what works and what doesn’t, what students gravitate toward, what empowers students,
and how to get students quickly moving forward on the instrument by achieving clear cut goals and
objectives - all while having lots and lots of FUN!

Like with anything new and different, dive into these materials with an open mind. Know that if you
practice these techniques, work hard, and continue honing your skills and refining your art, that these
methods will bring results and you will be playing guitar like you always dreamed of.

Guitar can be a challenging instrument for sure, but if you follow my structured curriculum, keep a
positive attitude, and practice the right things, you will succeed. The guitar can be something that will
bring you joy for the rest of your life.

Playing guitar is infectious and once you start reaping the

rewards of playing and creating you won’t want to stop. In fact
you will probably be playing guitar for the rest of your life.

Enjoy these materials and please let me know if you have any
questions. I always welcome your insights and feedback as I am
constantly tweaking my instructional products to make them the
best they can be.

I wish you the best in all your musical endeavors.

Enjoy the journey, and as always……..ROCK ON!
David Taub
Epic Guitar Instruction
EpicGuitarInstruction@yahoo.com

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………………………..….2
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3
Eleven essential points to remember……………………………..……………………………………………4
Parts of the guitar – acoustic & electric………………………………………………………………………..5
Frequently asked questions, acoustic or electric?…………………………………………………..….….…6
Utilizing the pick……………………………………………………………………………………………….….7
Names of the open strings………………………………………………………………………………………8
Three goals and you will be playing songs……………………………………………………………………9
Reading chord charts…………………………………………………………………………..………….……10
Fret hand techniques – building a solid foundation…………………………………………………….……11
Chord fingering techniques…………………………………………………………………………..….……..12
Learning your first chord…………………………………………………………………………………....13-14
Learning your second chord……………………………………………………………………………………15
Learning your third chord……………………………………………………………………….………………16
A few tips on practicing………………………………………………………………………….………….17-18
Frequently asked question on practicing…………………….……………………………………….………19
Strumming and rhythm mechanics…………………………………………………………………….…..20-21
Strum patterns…………………………………………………………………………………………………...22
More Strum patterns…………………………………………………………………………………………….23
Practice routine………………………………………………………………………………….………………24
Open position chords to learn……………………………………..……………………………….………25-26
The F major chord…………………………………………………………………………………….…………27
Practice & review……………………………………….……………………………………………….………28
Chord changing techniques and principles…………………………………………………………………..29
The shared fingers chord changing technique……………………………………………………………….30
Shared fingers chord change practice……………………………………………….………………………..31
The cluster principle chord changing techniques…………………………………………………………….32
Cluster principle chord change practice……………………………………………………………………....33
The slide principle chord change technique and practice…………………………………………………..34
Techniques review………………………………………………………………………………………………35
Notes on the Fretboard………………………………………………………………………………………....36
A few words of encouragement from the author David Taub.…………………………………….……..…37

Written by David Taub - Epic Guitar Instruction

Copyright © Epic Guitar Instruction, 2015 All Rights Reserved - unauthorized

duplication or distribution of any part of this book is prohibited
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 ELEVEN ESSENTIAL POINTS TO REMEMBER:
1. PATIENCE – Learning an instrument requires patience. Many of the techniques take time to master. Even
fingering chords can be quite challenging. This is normal so do not get discouraged. It takes time to get your
fingers, tendons, and muscles used to bending in the ways necessary to play guitar. Take your time, be
patient and it will come.

2. ATTITUDE – A positive attitude goes a long way. You can do this! Even though at times the guitar can be
frustrating, try and stay positive and remember that your guitar playing is an evolution.

3. PROPER TECHNIQUE – Utilizing the proper techniques and learning the proper fundamentals is essential
for beginner guitar. Any bad habits that you start off with will be very hard to untangle later as well as they will
impede your progress down the road. So strive to follow the technique guidelines closely at first and then later
down the road you can develop them into your own personal style. First learn the rules, then go ahead and
consider break them.

4. FINGERNAIL LENGTH - Keep the fingernails on your fret hand short. If your nails are too long they will
interfere with the fretting of notes on the fingerboard. If you press straight down with one finger on a solid
surface, like a tabletop, and you feel the nail hitting the table before your fingertip, your nails are too long and
will need to be cut.

5. CLEANLINESS - Wash and thoroughly dry your hands before picking up the guitar. It will keep oily
residues and dirt off the fingerboard and your hands will be clean and not slide around on the neck. Wipe the
neck down with a soft cloth after playing as this keeps the neck clean and prolongs string life.

6. ON DISCOMFORT - Fingertip soreness and wrist discomfort is normal for the beginning guitarist. As you
play more your fingertip calluses will build up stronger and the discomfort will get less and less. But, if you
feel major pain in the wrist or arm - STOP. Big pain is your bodies’ way of telling you something may be
wrong. Give it a little rest and go back to it later and check to ensure you are utilizing the proper techniques.

7. SLOW DOWN - Playing slow and in time is ALWAYS better than playing fast and sloppy. Always master a
concept at slow speeds before trying to play it faster. Speed comes with time.

8. NOTES ON THE NECK – Not at first but eventually you want to try to memorize the notes on the neck and
the notes that make up a given chord or a scale. You just don’t want to solely rely on just fingerings or
shapes. Putting in the extra time to learn the notes will make you a better musician in the long run. You will be
able to speak “the language” of music when conversing with other musicians, when writing songs, when
playing with your friends, or in a band situation.

9. DEVELOP YOUR EAR – I say these words often, I feel developing your ear is one of the most important
things you can do as a musician.

10. MUSIC THEORY - A little theory is a good thing. Not right at first but eventually putting some time into
learning some music theory has great value. It will move your playing forward faster and allow you to
communicate the language of music.

11. FUN – Give yourself plenty of “fun time” on the guitar doing what you love to do best – learn a song, make
noise, write a new tune, do fun stuff. Don’t spend all your time just studying and working. HAVE FUN AND
STAY POSITIVE – practice does not have to be drudgery!

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 PARTS OF THE GUITAR – ACOUSTIC & ELECTRIC
In order to communicate effectively in guitar lingo you will need to learn some guitar terminology. The below
illustrations display some of the common parts of an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar.

headstock

tuning pegs

nut

frets

neck

frets

body

soundhole

pickups

bridge

ACOUSTIC GUITAR ELECTRIC GUITAR

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 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which guitar do I choose Acoustic or Electric?

You have a choice when you start to learn to play guitar, do you want to learn on the acoustic guitar or on the
electric guitar? The principles, concepts, and techniques that you will learn when first starting to play guitar
are the same no matter which you choose.

However, there are some basic differences between the two that I feel are very much worth mentioning. Your
decision partially lies in which one sounds best to your ears and which one do you envision yourself playing.

Many of you will be drawn more to one than the other. You may want to have that electric guitar plugged in
through an amplifier and eventually add distortion and rock out. Or, you may love and are more drawn toward
the beautiful sounds produced by a ringing, full-bodied acoustic guitar.

Both instruments are truly wonderful and most guitar players eventually end up owning one of each, if not
more. I have many guitars and love them all, they are all unique and have their own voices.

The biggest thing to keep in mind when making this decision is the electric guitar is a little easier to learn on
than an acoustic. On an electric guitar, the strings are of a lighter gauge, the action is lower, its easier to
press down on the strings, and the body is thinner and easier to get your arm around. So overall the electric
will be easier to play and learn on in the beginning.

But learning first on an acoustic is fine, its just a little more challenging. Either way you want to find the guitar
that is the right fit for your hands and body and one that does not fight you. You want a guitar that is set up
well and is easy to play. You will have enough to worry about at first just getting over the physics of the
instrument. At first, you don’t want to be fighting the guitar.

Whatever guitar you go with make sure it’s the right fit for your body and hands. There are many different
model guitars on the market today. Some have wide necks and some thin, some have large bodies and some
smaller.

Finding the right sized guitar that fits your hands and body best, is absolutely essential. The wrong sized
guitar that is poorly set up and hard to play will increase your frustration level exponentially. Keep the
variables to a minimum and get the right sized guitar.

You want your first guitar to be one that is set up correctly and is easy to play. You don’t want to learn on a
guitar that is poorly set up and has strings two inches off the fretboard as that will be extremely hard to play
and you will end up very frustrated and possibly quitting.

Especially when considering acoustic guitars, I suggest going to a music store and talk to a reputable sales
person. There they can have you try a bunch of various sized instruments to determine what fits your hands
and body best as well as one that sounds most pleasing to your ears.

I also suggest going with what you love. If you are drawn more toward the acoustic, and love that acoustic
sound, then go with that. You will probably end up having at least one of each down the line, and then you
will have the best of both worlds.

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Copyright © 2014 Next Level Guitar Inc. Unauthorized replication or distribution prohibited
 UTILIZING THE PICK
There are two most common ways to attack the strings. One is with your fingers alone, which is called finger
picking or finger style guitar. The other is utilizing a plectrum or what is more commonly termed a guitar pick.

I want to get you playing the guitar in the fastest manner possible so lets start by utilizing the pick. Finger
style is indeed awesome, but the beginning techniques are challenging and take a lot of time to develop. I
suggest starting off by using a pick and if you like that finger style sound then you can study that style down
the road after you have had some guitar time under your belt.

Guitar picks come in various shapes, sizes, thickness, and materials. Various thickness picks will actually
sound different as they hit the strings. As you get more familiar with the pick, you want to experiment. Try
different materials and sizes to find what feels best in your hands, AND sounds best to your ears.

I have found that beginning students gravitate more toward picks made from nylon that have raised letters or
ridges built into them. You don’t want the pick moving or sliding in your hand and the raised ridges or letters
act like grips, so a pick with grips on it comes in very handy. There also also are picks made with holes in
them so part of your finger fits into that hole to aid in gripping.

Illustrated below are the two most common ways to hold the pick. Try them both and see which feels most
comfortable in your hand.

Open your hand and have your palm face up. Turn the pick sideways so the pointy tip is
Next, place the pick with the pointy tip facing pointed toward your left. Point your pointer
straight up flat on your pointer finger. Less than finger toward the left in a straight-line horizontal
half of the pick should be off the pointer finger. with the pick. The tip of your finger should be
Then come over the top of the pick with your pointing at the pointy tip of the pick. Place the
thumb and grip the pick firmly but not with pick on top of your pointer finger, less than half
excessive pressure between both fingers. With of the pick should be hanging off your finger.
this method the tip of the thumb is upward in the Then come over the top of the pick with your
same line as the pointy tip of the pick. thumb sandwiching the pick between your
pointer finger and thumb.

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 NAMES OF THE OPEN STRINGS
What’s that about dynamite?
Let’s learn the names of the six open strings from lowest to highest. At first you want to tune your guitar to
what is called “Standard Tuning” or “A440 tuning”. In this tuning the open strings from low to high ring out to
the notes E, A, D, G, B, and E. There is a low E string and a high e string.

The low E string is also called the 6th string, the A is also called the 5th string, the D is the 4th string, G is the
3rd string, B is the 2nd string, and the high E is the 1st string.

It’s very important to know the names of the open strings. I have an easy saying that will help you remember,
in fact I don’t think you will ever forget them if you commit this phrase to memory.

To remember the names of the six open strings just remember this statement “Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good
Bye Eddie” – E A D G B E – there you have it – the names of the six open strings.

Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie

E A D G B E
Nut
Most guitars have dots or
various shapes along the
guitar neck. These symbols
or dots are called “fret
1st fret
markers”.

The markers are on the neck

so you can quickly find the
2nd fret
location of the 3rd, 5th, 7th,
and 12 frets.

Often the 12th fret will have

3rd fret
two markers indiacting it is
the 12th fret.
4th fret

Guitar Neck
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 THREE GOALS TO PLAYING SONGS
It is important as you move through this structured guitar plan that
we set a few guitar goals along the way. We all know that songs are
very important to musicians. In fact many of us may have picked up
the guitar with the goal of being able to eventually play songs. Well, I
am going to get you to the point where you can play songs by first
tackling three critical guitar goals.
3 GOALS
THREE GOALS TO BE ABLE TO PLAY SONGS:
1. Learn some open position chords 1. Learn chords
2. Learn how to strum with rhythm
3. Learn how to change chords 2. Learn strumming
with rhythm

If you can do the above three things, then you will be playing songs
– that fast. What are songs played on an instrument? Basically a
series or string of notes or chords played with a certain rhythm. You
can break them down into a series of chord changes or chord
3. Learn chord
progressions. changing
So if you learn some chords, learn how to strum, and then learn how
to change chords, you will be playing songs. It’s quite amazing how
fast you will be playing musically sounding examples.

So let’s get started with the first goal and learn some chords. I am HAVE FUN!
going to explain how to read chord charts and then teach you your
first three chords. This will get you started on your first chord
progression.

Remember that with just a handful of chords you will be able to play
thousands and thousands of songs. Some of the best songs ever
written are made up of only a handful of chords.

It’s truly amazing how much you will be able to accomplish by just
learning the chords listed in this book. You will amaze yourself!

Along with learning a few chords and practicing them, you also want
to start learning how to strum with rhythm and learn some strum
patterns. So we can work on the first two goals at the same time.
Then when you have the first two chords sounding good we can
work on chord changing.
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 READING CHORD CHARTS
The illustrations throughout this eBook are consistent in that the strings are always shown vertical
and the frets horizontal. You will have to be able to read the chord charts in order to study the chords
you will be learning.

The chords are drawn in a standard format that you probably have seen before. In the grid illustrated
below you can see all six strings are shown vertically from the Low E to the High E. The grid looks
like the actual neck of the guitar.

The frets are displayed horizontal and are numbered in order starting with the 1st fret, 2nd fret, 3rd
fret, and so on. Notice the thick horizontal line at the top of the grid. This is called the nut and is not
considered a fret.

At first you will be spending a lot of time within the first five frets working on open position chords, or
chords played with at least one open string. These open position chords are the first chords that
every guitar player learns when they first start to learn guitar. These open position chords are also
referred to as “cowboy chords”, “six bangers”, or “basic open position chords”.

2 3
E A D G B E 1
Nut
4
1st fret
T
2nd fret

3rd fret

4th fret The fret hand fingers are numbered in a

standard way so you can easily know what
finger to place on what string. The pointer
finger is “1”, the middle finger is “2”, the ring
finger is “3”, and the pinky is “4”. The thumb
is often referred to as “T”. Look for these
numbers at the bottom of the grid as they tell
which finger to use to fret a given note.

Chord = two or more notes played at the same time.

Open position chords = chords that are played with at least one open string

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 Fret Hand Techniques
Building a Solid Foundation
Proper fret hand technique is absolutely critical for optimum guitar playing. Learning the proper techniques
will give you a rock solid foundation that we can build on as you move along in your guitar journey.

When fretting notes you will experience some mild discomfort in your wrist and also on the tips of your
fingers. This discomfort and soreness only lasts until you build up some calluses on your fingertips, usually a
few weeks. This is normal and I assure you the discomfort in the wrist and fingertips will subside more and
more each day and eventually disappear completely.

Your wrist and finger tendons will grow stronger and will get used to the chord positions as well as the skin
on your fingertips will soon get very tough. When you see the skin on your fingertips start to rip you should be
like “YEAH!” – because that is what you want. You want the skin to rip because when it comes back it will
come back tougher and stronger. So consider the ripped skin like a merit badge - you earned it from all your
hard work and practice!

Key Point - As we go through the chord fingerings for your first batch of chords
do not get discouraged. It may take weeks to get the fingerings memorized and
for the chords to sound clean and ring true. Stay positive and remember that your
playing is an evolution!

Keep the fingernails on the four fingers on your fret hand short. You don’t want your fingernail to hit the
fretboard before your fingertip. If your nails are too long it will cause interference when fingering notes and
chords and will prohibit them from ringing true. So keep them short.

A good test is to press down on a flat surface with your fingertip, like a tabletop, and if you can feel the nail
before you feel the tip of your finger, then the nail is too long and must be cut.

As we go through the proper techniques in the coming lessons remember, if you feel big pain in the wrist or
arm – STOP, take a break, and check that you are utilizing the proper techniques. Pain is your body’s way of
telling you something may be wrong. Give it a little rest, take a break and go back to it later. Remember,
Rome was not built in a day.

Key Practice Technique – make sure when you are learning chords that you use the
described fret hand techniques. Ensure your fingers remain clustered together and do
not take them apart. Always remain on your fingertips with your fingers cupped and
your thumb in the proper position on the back of the neck. This technique is crucial!

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 CHORD FINGERING TECHNIQUES
1. FINGERS - When playing chords, keep your fingers cupped and fret the notes on your fingertips, don’t
lay your fingers flat, stay on the tips of your fingers and press down hard on the required strings.

2. WRIST - Keep your wrist down. Having your wrist up too far throws the shoulder into the wrong
position. Your arm and shoulder should be in a very natural and comfortable flowing position.

3. THUMB - For now, keep your thumb anchored on the back of the neck about even with your 2nd finger
or between your 1st and 2nd fingers. Do not grip the guitar neck like a baseball bat or have your thumb
way over to one side.

4. CLOSENESS - Keep ALL your fret fingers close to the fretboard at all times. Don’t let your fret hand fly
out of position far away from the fretboard. Think of it like your fingers are magnetically attracted to the
strings and you cant slip a credit card between the strings and your fingertips.

5. FRETTING - Fret each note right behind the designated fret, not in between frets but right behind the
fret. You have to press down quite hard in the beginning to get the note to ring true. If you have to fret
multiple notes on the same fret then the fingers have to slide back a tad to make room, but for the most
part be right behind the fret.

6. DO NOT BEND - Make sure you are not bending any strings as you finger each note or the chord will
ring out of tune. Look down the strings making sure they are all straight and not bent.

7. NO TOUCHING - Make sure your fingers are not touching any of the other strings other than the
strings they are required to fret for the given chord. If part of one finger is hitting an errant string it will
keep that string from ringing true. Be sure that the palm of your fret hand does not touch the high E
string. If it does, try lowering the wrist and cupping the fingers more.

8. CLUSTER - Keep your fret hand in a tight cluster and do not pull it apart. Pinky finger should be
hitching a ride on the 3rd finger with all fingers in a tight cluster close to the fretboard at all times like in
the photo illustrations in the coming lessons. Use these photos as a template for technique on all the
chords you will be working on.

9. BUILDING - Remember that we are building a solid foundation at this level of your playing. You want
to get these techniques down pat so we can build on them in future lessons. You dont want to develop
any bad habits early in your guitar journey.
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 Learning your first chord - E minor
You will be able to play thousands of songs by learning just a handful of open position chords. The first set of
12 open position chords form the foundation for thousands and thousands of popular songs.

Now that you are familiar with reading chord charts from the previous lesson let’s illustrate your first chord.
We will be learning to play an E minor, (Em), chord. The small “m” next to a chord letter name denotes minor.
If no other letters or numbers that appear next to a chord letter then major is implied.

The chord chart illustrated below on the right has two white dots on the vertical string lines. The white dots
illustrate where you put your fingers and on which strings. The numbers at the bottom of the chord chart refer
to which finger of your fret hand you will be utilizing to play the chord. The “0” means that you play that string
open and an “X” means that you don’t play that string at all.

Looking at the below illustration you will fret the 2nd fret of the A string with your first finger and the 2nd fret
of the D string with your second finger. You will also play the Low E string, G string, B string, and high E
string all open. Strum the Em chord and listen that all strings ring true.

Use your first finger

Em to fret the note at
the 2nd fret on the
Em
A string.

Use your second

finger to fret the
note at the second
fret on the D string.

0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0
The low E string, G string, B
string, and high E string are
all played open as illustrated
by the “0” below each string.

Notice the proper fret hand

techniques are being employed to
play the Em chord. The fingers are
cupped and on the fingertips, the 3rd
and 4th fingers are attached tight to
the 2nd finger as well as they are in
tight close to the fretboard, the whole
hand is clustered together in a tight
economical cluster, wrist is down,
and the fingers and hand are not
interfering by inadvertently touching
other strings. Try fingering an Em
chord just like this.

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 Learning your first chord - E minor
Voice the Em chord illustrated below and strum the chord using the pick coming down through all six strings.
Strike the strings one at a time and listening that each of the six notes ring out true. You shouldn’t hear any
popping or muted string noises.

Remember to utilize all the techniques outlined in the previous lessons and if the chord is not ringing true
check that your fingers or palm are not inadvertently touching any other strings. Listen to the sound of the
chord and commit the Em chord to memory - memorize that this shape is named E minor.

Em

0 1 2 0 0 0

Use the same learning template as taught above for learning all your chords. When first learning a new chord,
remember to play the notes individually and let them ring out to ensure there are no dead strings, muted
strings, strings being bent, or any other extraneous string noises or pops. Those extraneous noises will
contaminate the true sound of the given chord.

Then after you hear all the notes ring true individually try strumming the entire chord all at once and again
make sure all the notes ring true when strummed.

Now you should be able to play an Em chord and have it sounding pretty good. Memorize the fingering and
know that it is an Em chord. Remember our first goal is to learn a batch of these basic open position chords.

Some of the chords in the lessons to come will be more challenging to finger and get sounding clean. It all
just takes patience and practice, so stick with it and you will be rocking out in no time!

Remember that we are training your fingers and a lot has to do with muscle memory. Your fingers are not
used to bend into these chord shapes, so it takes some time to get those muscles used to these positions.

Key Practice Exercise – a good practice exercise to do when you first learn a new chord is to practice
fingering the chord, strum it, and then lift all your fingers off fret board slightly, but keeping them in the same
cluster shape of the chord hovering slightly over the frets. Then placing back on the fret board in the same
chord position. Check that the chord still rings true with another strum and also check that your fingers have
not moved out of position. Practice off and on, off and on. This gets you used to coming off chords and getting
back on them quickly and accurately. Do this when learning all new chords and commit the chord names and
shapes to memory.

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 Learning your second chord - Asus2
The next chord we will learn is an A suspended 2nd or Asus2. Use the same fret hand technique that you
learned in the previous lessons for all the chords you will be learning going forward.

This chord utilizes the same fingering and shape as the Em chord, everything just moves down one string
each but now you don’t play the low E string.

As per the below illustration, to play the Asus2 chord fret the first note with your first finger on the second fret
of the D string, and then fret with your second finger the note at the 2nd fret of the G string. Play the A string,
B string, and high E strings open and don’t play the Low E string.
Asus2
Use your second
finger to fret the note
Asus2 at the second fret of
the G string.

Use your first finger

to fret the note at X 0 1 2 0 0
the second fret of

X 0 1 2 0 0
the D string. Em

The Low E string is The A string, B string,

not played as and the high E strings
illustrated by the “X” are played open as
below the string. illustrated by the “0”
below each string

0 1 2 0 0 0
Notice the proper technique
employed when playing the
Asus2 chord. Fingers cupped,
on the fingertips and all fingers
as close as possible to the
fretboard. Third and fourth
fingers hitching a ride attached
to the 2nd finger. All the open
strings can ring true without
interference. Notice this chord
is the same fingering as the Em
chord, just the fingering is
dropped down one string.

Key Practice Exercise: Try changing from the Em chord straight down to the Asus2 chord. Strum the
Em chord once, then drop the fingers straight down one string each to the Asus2 chord and strum that chord
once. Then back up to the Em chord. Practice back and forth, back and forth. Practice getting the transition
smooth and getting all the notes of each chord to ring true.
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 Learning your third chord - Am9
Now we are going to learn to play an A minor 9th chord or Am9. Examine the illustrations below and notice
that you use the same fingering or chord voicing to play Am9 as you did for Asus2. Just slide the Asus2
chord shape horizontally down the neck 3 frets over to the fifth fret.

On both chords you still don’t play the low E string. Follow the illustrations below to play the Am9 chord. It is
a dark and very pretty sounding chord.
Am9
Use your first finger to
Am9 fret the note at the fifth
fret of the D string.
5th fret

Use your second finger

to fret the note at the
fifth fret of the G string. X 0 1 2 0 0
X 0 1 2 0 0 Asus2
The A string, B string, and
The Low E string is not
the high E strings are played
played as illustrated by
the “X” below the string.
open as illustrated by the “0”
below each string.

X 0 1 2 0 0
Em

0 1 2 0 0 0
Notice the Am9 chord has the same fingering as the Em and
Asus2 chords. Just slide the Asus2 chord up on the neck three
frets to the fifth fret. Also notice the proper fret hand technique
employed to play the chord.

Key Practice Technique: Keep following this same format as you learn new chords. First play the notes
of the chord one at a time and then strum all the strings at once to ensure that the chord rings true. If you
hear muted or dead notes check that none of your fingers are hitting other strings. Make sure you are on
your fingertips and your wrist is down. Practice coming on and off the chord as explained in the previous
practice exercise and try moving from chord to chord.
16 of 37
 PRACTICE TIPS
Practice time does not have to be boring and viewed as a negative, not fun activity. I make practice time fun
and exciting for my students so they see the progress they are making on the guitar while playing fun
sounding musical examples. Practice should not be drudgery. Follow these practice tips:

Make it easy for yourself to practice:

Buy a guitar stand and keep your guitar out on the stand so it is accessible to you at all times. Keep it in the
room that you are in most. This way you will be much more likely to grab it and practice when you have a free
five or ten minute pocket of time. Don’t keep your guitar packed up in its case under your bed or packed away
in the closet. You will be less likely to pull it out when you have free time.

Shorter practice blocks of are better than long marathon sessions:

It is more productive for the beginner student to practice in shorter blocks of time than longer marathon
sessions. In fact you have to be diligent about limiting your time on the guitar at first or your fingertips will be
so sore you wont be able to play again for two or three days. At first, keep the practice sessions limited to
twenty to thirty minutes twice a day.

Often people think that they can’t learn an instrument because they don’t have an hour or two-hour chunk of
time every day to commit to learning. Well you don’t need that much time and in fact several smaller blocks of
time throughout the day are much more productive than one long marathon session once every few days or
week.

We all have those small pockets of ten or twenty minutes during the day where we are not doing much of
anything. So if you have a spare five or ten minutes, pick up the guitar and practice. Use that time to go
through some chords, chord changes, or work on that strum pattern. You will be amazed how all those ten-
minute small sessions really add up to big gains in your playing.

Fingertip and wrist discomfort:

One of the biggest challenges of the beginner guitarist is getting over
the physics of the instrument. It takes some time to get your fingertip
calluses built up and for your wrist and fret hand to get used to bending
and playing chord shapes.

At first you will experience some fingertip and wrist discomfort. We

have all gone through it, so you are not alone. But know that it will get
less and less with time and will eventually disappear.

This is another reason why to limit your playing at first to ten to twenty
minute blocks of time. If you play for too long at first then your fingertips
will be so sore that you wont be able to play the next day and possibly
even the day after that.

Remember that moderation is best at first as well as you will retain

more with smaller practice blocks than long marathon sessions.

17 of 37
 PRACTICE TIPS - PAGE 2
Learning the fundamentals and proper technique:
It is vital to build a solid foundation when you start playing guitar. Techniques and principles get stacked on
top of one another. Remember that learning guitar in the beginning is like a staircase and you have to learn
step one before traversing step two, step two before step three, and so on. You don’t want to build any bad
habits early on as these bad habits are very challenging to undo later. A bad habit now may not seem like
much but it can impede your progress later in your guitar journey.

Having structure and consistency is key:

One of the keys to beginner guitar is consistency. Put that guitar in your hands every day, even if it’s only for
ten minutes. Grab that guitar before going to work if you have a spare ten minutes, or when you get home
from work, or before going to bed, or while you are waiting for dinner to cook. Keep putting it in your hands
every day and you will see big gains.

Remember to consistently utilize your structured plan. Work on your practice regimens, chord changes, learn
new chords, strum patterns, etc. Whatever you are currently learning hit it hard and consistently as per the
plan and you will get better and better the more you practice.

Muscle memory:
A lot of the early techniques you are learning have to deal with challenges regarding muscle memory. The
goal is to get your fret hand and brain wired together to remember chord fingerings and positions, and how to
change chords without thinking about it. Eventually you want to get your chord fingering and chord changing
to be on autopilot. It takes time and practice to get that muscle memory built into your subconscious.

The way to get to the autopilot stage is consistently practicing the chords, chord changes, and fret hand
movements back and forth, back and forth, ten minutes a day, one day at a time. Keep it up and soon you
won’t even have to think about it, the fret hand will work automatically.

Don’t overwhelm yourself:

I often see beginner guitar players take on way too much. They try and soak up and practice every piece of
knowledge or lesson from books, the internet, private studies, this guy, that girl, etc. And in the end their
playing suffers and they are at a standstill because they glaze over too many principles at once and don’t put
the needed time into each stage of learning. They eventually get frustrated and put the instrument down.

Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to take on too many new things at once. At first stick to the basics as per
the lessons in this eBook, learn some chords, learn to strum, learn to change chords. That is plenty at first.
Take these lessons and techniques in stages, slow and steady wins the race.

Use a practice log to chart your progress:

You don’t need anything fancy, a simple three ring binder with filler paper works great. Write out the practice
progressions and circle the changes within the progressions that you have to work on separately as they are
the ones you are stumbling over and need to practice more.

Add filler paper to your binder and keep accurate records of the tasks you are working on, what needs work,
new chords, chord changes, strum patterns, rhythms, progressions, songs, original material, scales, etc.
Date the entries and keep track of your progress as you move forward in your guitar journey. Just like setting
goals in life, you want to set musical goals…....…and then go out there and achieve them.
18 of 37
 Frequently Asked Questions on Practicing
Give yourself plenty of fun time on the guitar:
Don’t regiment your entire guitar playing experience to just to study, study, study. Remember that this is a
fun activity and you want to give yourself plenty of fun time on the guitar to just jam, make noise, and flat
out just enjoy the instrument. Do things that you enjoy on the instrument and have fun, that is why you
picked up this amazing instrument in the first place.

FAQ: How much should I practice?

I get asked all the time, “David, how much time should I spend practicing”. To be honest I don’t have a
canned answer for this question. I will tell you this, there is positive correlation between the amount of
time you practice and how fast you move up the guitar staircase.

The more you practice, as long as you follow a structured methodology, the faster you will advance. But
as far as how much actual time should you practice all depends on what you have going on in your life,
how fast you want to move forward on the instrument, and balance.

That is the great thing about learning guitar and utilizing my teaching methods, you can learn at your own
pace, a pace that fits your lifestyle.

We are all very busy people. We have jobs, families, boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, hobbies, and social
lives. So we strive for balance in our lives where we get to do all the things we love and are passionate
about as well as taking on new projects, setting new goals, and going out there and achieving them.

Ideally, if you can practice for two or three 15-20 minute sessions throughout the day you will see great
progress. Even just two 15 minute sessions is fine. Once you get over the fingertip soreness, practicing
forty-five minutes a day would be awesome. The more time you put into practicing the right things, the
faster you will move forward.

So find the balance that suits your life. Again, you want to keep it
realistic. In the beginning stages of learning guitar you will want
to pick up the guitar and practice as often as possible. Try to put
the guitar in your hands every day.

Early on you don’t want to go a week or ten days without picking

up the guitar, as you will forget the concepts that you previously
learned and then you have to start all over again.

So practice as often as possible, especially in the beginning,

while achieving balance in your life. And most importantly –
HAVE FUN! One of the mantras in my life is, “if it’s not
fun…..why do it?”

19 of 37
 Strumming & Rhythm Mechanics
Now that you have learned some chords we can tackle the techniques of strumming and rhythm. While you
work on the strumming examples below be sure to keep moving forward learning and working with the open
position chords as they are taught in the coming pages of this eBook. At the same time let’s work on your
strumming and rhythm.

You will be working on multiple tasks at once so be sure to allot practice time for both. Practice your chords
and getting them to sound good and practice your strumming and rhythm as taught below.

Music is more than just notes and chords, it’s also about rhythm and meter. In order to play something
musical sounding we need to play it with rhythm. The easiest way to do that with guitar is strumming the
guitar rhythmically with what is known as strum patterns.

Let’s learn the proper techniques for strumming and go over basic strum mechanics. Then we will learn a
few rhythmic strum patterns.

Proper Strum Mechanics:

1. Bend at the elbow - don’t think of strumming like your hand is moving up and down. Think of it more in
terms that you are swinging your elbow, that is the motion that you want. Bend at the elbow.

2. More arm than wrist - when strumming move the arm up and down working the pick through all the
strings. Don’t leave the arm semi-stationary and just bend the wrist to strum, that is not correct. Bend at the
elbow and put your arm into the strum and be emotive. Its in the arm not the wrist.

3. Long strokes - use a long strumming movements. Do not strum just from the top of the low E string to the
bottom of the high E string. Your strum should have a long swath. Strum from the top of the guitar body all
the way down to the bottom of the guitar body, think long strums.

4. Loose feel - keep a loose feel with the arm. Don’t lock the wrist or arm and don’t strum in herky-jerky
motions. It should be smooth, even and loose. If your arm or wrist is locked your strumming will come across
very robotic and sterile sounding, loose is key.

5. Let the pick do the work - come down through the strings on a down strum and let the tip of the pick
glide through the strings. Don't bury the pick too deep into the strings but rather just let the tip of the pick hit
through the strings and gravity and the downforce of your arm will help let the pick do the work.

6. Ups and downs the same - try to keep the same motion for up strums as down strums. This will take
some work but your up strums should be the same volume as your down strums. Practice the motion and
listen for the volume of the strums. Your strumming will get more consistent sounding over time.

Meter and notes:

Let’s discuss meter and then on to strum patterns. We will start with quarter notes. A quarter note is one
note per beat and one full measure of quarter notes is counted:

“ONE – TWO – THREE – FOUR”

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 Strumming & Rhythm Mechanics - page 2
Key Practice Exercise: First try strumming quarter notes with four down strums, d/d/d/d. Play an Em
chord and strum with four down strums. Then try changing to the Asus2 chord for four down strums. Then
back to the Em chord. Then to the Am9, mix it up. Practice those quarter note strums with the chords.

Let’s add up strums to the mix and play eighth notes. Eighth notes are two notes per beat and are counted:

ONE & TWO & THREE & FOUR &

Two notes per beat, there is a “one-and” before you get to the two so you are playing two notes per beat with
eighth notes. Let’s utilize alternate strumming with this count - down up, down up and so on.

The down strums will be on all the numbers or beats and the up strums will come on all the “ANDS”. So
playing straight eighth notes will be this:

d/ u / d / u / d / u / d / u
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
d= down strum u = up strum

Try the eighth note strum on the chords that you know. As you can probably tell it does not sound very
musical. But practice the straight eighths to get a feel for strumming up and down and getting comfortable
with the proper strum mechanics until you feel ready to try a strum pattern. We have to add rhythm with rests
and then repeat the rests to make it sound musical.

Strum patterns:
Strum patterns are rhythmic sets of strums with rests that can be
repeated to sound a rhythm. It’s that repeated series of rests that give
music its rhythm, or life’s blood.

We need that rhythm to sound musical. As you could tell from the
straight eighth note strumming that you tried above it does not sound
very musical. It is sounds sterile, like an exercise.

On the next page are a few eighth note strum patterns to get you
started. These strum patterns can be utilized for countless songs.

Remember to break strum patterns down into smaller sections when

first working them up. It will take a while to get the groove of a pattern,
but stick with it and soon you will get it. Once you get a strum pattern
down pat, use that pattern to practice strumming with the chords you
are learning and then chord changing.
21 of 37
 Strum Patterns
Let’s learn a fantastic strum pattern that you can use for hundreds of songs. I have found that this pattern is
one that beginner students can learn fast. Try this pattern with one of the chords you know or just grab the
strings to mute them and just scratch out the rhythm, no chord is needed as you can add chords in later.

down/down/up/up/down/up (d/d/u/u/d/u)
It’s often easier to digest a strum pattern if you break it down into several parts. Just like in elementary school
how we learned long words by breaking up the syllables into shorter ones, same concept. Let’s break the
above pattern down to make it easier to get it rolling. First play two down strums (noted in red):

down/down up/up/down/up
Then follow it up with two up strums:

down/down/up/up/down/up
Then for the last part of the strum pattern play straight eighth notes with a down up:

down/down/up/up/down/up
Then put all three parts together slow, with good strum mechanics and you get:

down/down up/up down/up

Key Practice Exercises: Keep repeating the pattern – d/d/u/u/d/u d/d/u/u/d/u d/d/u/u/d/u and so on. You
will probably get the pattern one or two times around and then lose it. But keep at it and next try you may
have it four times or so around before losing it. Keep going until you have it locked down. Then add chords to
it and try it with one chord and then with changing chords. You can also try it with progressions or songs. It’s
a fantastic pattern that is very musical and works with tons of songs. Keep practicing and you will get it!

I have written below how the strum pattern ups and down line up with musical eighth note time. You may not
necessarily want to think of the pattern in musical time as that may throw your strum off. This visual is to
show you how the count looks on paper:

d d u u d u
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

22 of 37
 More Strum Patterns
Now let’s follow the same template as in the previous lesson to learn another strum pattern. This pattern is
almost straight eighth notes. Only difference is that we are going to yank out one down strum from the
straight eighth note pattern.

So we will have two up strums in a row and leave out that one down strum. That will give us that needed rest.
Then we repeat the pattern and we have our rhythm. Remember, the rhythm is in the rests. This pattern is:

down/up/down/up/up/down/up (d/u/d/u/u/d/u)
Let’s break the pattern down to make it easier to get rolling. Play straight eighth notes at first with a down up
down up, (as indicated in red).

down/up/down/up up/down/up

Then for the second and last part we do an up down up – like this:

down/up/down/up up/down/up

Then put all three together slow with our good strum mechanics:

down/up/down/up up/down/up

Key Practice Exercises: Keep repeating the pattern – d/u/d/u/u/d/u d/u/d/u/u/d/u d/u/d/u/u/d/u……..and so
on. Just like the first strum pattern you will probably get the pattern one or two times around and then lose it.
But keep at it and the next try you will play it longer before losing it.

Keep going until you have it locked down. Then add chords to it and try it with one chord and then with
changing chords. Also try with any progressions or songs that you know. Practice both strum patterns and get
them both locked down and sounding great with the chords that you know.

Keep trying to freewheel the pattern over and over. Again, for this pattern much like the last one, you may not
necessarily want to think of the pattern in musical time as that may throw you off. But just so you can see the
count on paper it would look like this:

d u d u u d u
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

23 of 37
 Practice Routine
At this point in my guitar journey, exactly what should I be practicing?
Another common questionI get has to do with practice regimens. Questions like, is there a set practice
regimen I should be following? Or, what exactly do I need to be practicing to ensure I am practicing the “right
things”? Very good questions indeed.

At this point in your guitar journey you should be dividing your practice time up into sections. Work on the
three goals we set all at the same time. For whatever practice time you have over twenty minutes break it up
into separate sections and spend time on the following:

1. Learn the first batch of 12 open position chords as I have diagrammed out on the coming pages of this
eBook. Remember that you will eventually be able to play thousands of songs with these 12 basic chords.

At first play the notes of the chord individually and then strum the whole chord and let the chord ring out to
check it is ringing true with no open string noises, pops, strings bent, or fingers hitting other strings. Learn the
chord fingerings and memorize the names.

Your goal is eventually to learn all 12 chords, know their names and shapes, and have all of them sounding
awesome. This takes time so it will be an ongoing evolution in your playing.

2. Practice the proper fret hand techniques. It is absolutely crucial to be playing these chords properly.
Remember to keep the wrist down, the fingers cupped and in a tight cluster, all fingers extremely close to the
fretboard at all times, and your pinky hitching a ride attached to that third finger.

3. Work on your strumming and rhythm. Get the first two strum patterns down cold and practice them with
the chords and eventually with the chord changing exercises I list in the coming lessons.

Work on your strum mechanics and getting your up-strums and down-strums the same volume. Practice
getting that arm loose and freewheeling. Let the force of your arm bring the pick through the strings and it will
cut through the strings while you strum, like a knife cuts through warm butter.

4. Practice your chord changing and changing mechanics as outlined

in the lessons on the coming pages. Practice the harder changes that you
are struggling with back and forth, back and forth. Practice chord changing
for 5-10 minutes every day.

Write down the changes you struggle with in your practice log. You can
even practice the mechanics of changing while watching TV. Remember,
it’s the muscle memory that you are working.

Go through the chord changing exercises and proper chord changing

techniques listed in the coming lessons. Knock changes out two at a time.
Keep pushing yourself to execute harder and harder changes, that is how
you will get better, by constantly pushing yourself on the instrument.

Practice stringing chord changes together into progressions and working

them with different strum patterns. Once you know some chords and how
to strum, then practice chord changing, and soon you will be playing
songs……it’s that fast if you put in the practice time.
24 of 37
 Open Position Chords
Learn the open position chords in order as illustrated below. Commit them to memory. Each new one will
prepare you for the coming chords. Remember that the small “m” next to the chord name denotes “minor”.
Here are first three chords that you should be practicing from previous lessons:

Em Asus2 Am9

5th fret

0 1 2 0 0 0 X 0 1 2 0 0 X 0 1 2 0 0

The next two chords are E major and A minor. Look at the chord charts below and notice that both chords
share the same voicing or shape. Just drop the E major down one string each and you have an A minor
chord. Same principle as with the above Em and Asus2 chords.

E Am

0 2 3 1 0 0 X 0 2 3 1 0

Notice that with the next two chords you DO NOT play the low E string as well as you DO NOT play the A
string. These are four note chords so for now try to avoid hitting the low E and A strings when playing them.

D Dm

X X 0 1 3 2 X X 0 2 3 1
25 of 37
 Open Position Chords - page 2
The next two chords will be a little more challenging than the ones on the previous page. Notice for the A
major chord, illustrated below, all three fingers get crammed into the second fret.

Keep practicing the chord till you find the sweet spot on your guitar where you feel comfortable playing all
three strings within the same fret. Remember to get all the notes to ring true and memorize the name and
shape of the chord.

The C major chord requires a bit of a stretch across three frets. Practice with the wrist down and try to voice
the chord with your fingers directly behind each listed fret. The low E string is not played and needs to be
muted so it does not ring out and muddy the chord.

Let the very tip of your third finger “spill” over the A string and slightly touch the low E string thus muting it so
it will not be heard when strumming the chord. Or you can also mute the low E string with your thumb by
having it come slightly over the top of the neck and just touch the low E to deaden it.

You can use this muting technique for any of the chords listed in which you don’t play the low E string. This
way you can strum all the strings and not have to worry about that low E string ringing out as it will be muted.

A C

X 0 1 2 3 0 X 3 2 0 1 0

The next two chords will require utilizing four fingers on your fret hand. Look at the chart below and notice
that both chords share the same voicing or shape. If you drop the G major chord down one string each you
have the Cadd9 chord. It’s a fun change to practice, as many songs have that G to Cadd9 chord movement.

G Cadd9

2 1 0 0 3 4 X 2 1 0 3 4

26 of 37
 The F Major Chord
In beginner guitar most students find the F major chord to be one of the most challenging to learn and master.
This is due to the need to bar across two strings with your first finger while stretching to the third fret with your
third finger. So it requires some strength, finger dexterity, and a bit of a stretch.

The F chord is in a lot of songs, so you will definitely want to add it to your growing chord catalog. It will take
some time to master so be patient and chip away at it a little each day. We will start with an easier chord to
get you prepared to tackle the F major chord.

Remember to utilize the fingering listed below and play the notes of the chord individually to ensure all notes
are ringing true. If you are hearing muted strings or any other noises check your technique and fret hand
position to examine why the chord is not sounding pure. Narrow it down string by string until you find the
culprit and correct as needed.

Once you learn bar chords you will utilize the F major bar chord in place of the four-string F chord. However,
there is still a lot of value in learning the four string F major chord and having it in your chord vocabulary.

At first everyone struggles with the F chord. Keep practicing and pecking away, it will come with time just like
all the other open position chords. Start off with an F major seventh chord, (Fmaj7), as a pre-cursor in getting
to the F major chord.

Fmaj7 F major seventh chord, (Fmaj7) – Try this chord in preparation to play
the F major chord. This Fmaj7 chord is a four-string chord. You do not play
the low E string and the A string. The high E string is played open. Major
7th chords are very sweet, jazzy and pretty sounding chords. Use this
chord for now and in place of the F major chord until you get the below F
chord nailed down.

X X 3 2 1 0

F F major chord – This F major chord has no open strings. Do not play the
low E string and the A string. Utilize your first finger as a bar and press
firmly down on the high E and B strings. Sometimes it helps if you angle
the bar a little. If you are not able to stretch far enough to reach the A and
F notes with your 2nd and 3rd fingers then move the whole shape up to
the 7th fret and practice it there where the frets are closer together. Then
slowly move the shape back down the fretboard as you practice the chord
each day and your fingers get used to the stretch. Don’t get discouraged,
X X 3 2 1 1 this is one of the hardest chords to nail solid. Stay positive and it will come
with time. Keep chipping away at it every day.

Key Note: Do not get discouraged. It may take some time to get the fingerings down and for these chords to
start sounding very clean. That is totally normal. It takes time for your finger tendons and wrist to get adjusted
to these new positions. Keep positive and it will sound better each day.
27 of 37
 Practice & Review
🎸 Chord = any two or more notes played at the same time.
🎸 Open position chords = chords played with at least one open string.
🎸 Small “m” = minor. Nothing next to a chord name implies major.
🎸 The white dots in the chord charts display where to put your fingers.
🎸 On your fret hand, pointer finger is 1, middle finger is 2, ring finger is 3, and pinky finger is 4.
🎸 The numbers below the strings refer to the fingers to be utilized when forming each chord.
🎸 A "0" below the indicated string means that that string is played open, (not fingered).
🎸 An "X" below the indicated string means that string is not played and may need to be muted.
🎸 The names of the open strings from low to high are E, A, D, G, B, E

Key Practice Exercises for Chords: Memorize and be able to play the twelve open position chords
and get them sounding clean - Em, Asus2, Am9, E, Am, D, Dm, A, C, G, Cadd9, and Fmaj7. You
want to get each note of each chord to ring true. First play the notes of the chord individually, letting
them ring out to ensure there are no overtones, muted strings, or strings being bent.

Then strum the chord playing all notes together. Again check that the chord sounds clean. At first,
practice fingering the chords and lifting all your fingers off the fretboard slightly, but keeping them in
the same shape, then placing them back on the fret board in the same position.

Check that the chord still rings true and your fingers have not moved out of position. Continue to
work on and learn new chords every day. You want to get the twelve open chords illustrated in the
previous lessons down cold. Then start chipping away at the F major chord.

Key Practice Exercises for Strumming and Rhythm: Learn both strum patterns as taught in the
previous lessons. Practice them till you can roll through them without even thinking of up strums and
down strums. Utilize proper strum mechanics as taught in the strumming lessons.

Play the strum patterns to where they have a loose feel and sound rhythmically flowing. You don’t
want them sounding sterile or mechanical. Use these strum patterns to play the chords that you know
and for changing chords as taught in the coming lessons.

28 of 37
 Chord Changing Techniques & Principles
Chord changing can be one of the most challenging aspects of beginner guitar. At first it seems almost
impossible to go from one chord to another in time while strumming. I assure you we all go through these
challenges when learning guitar and it just takes practice and patience.

If you regularly practice the chord changing techniques and principles in the coming lessons you will soon be
tackling the most challenging of changes. I developed these techniques to take the frustration out of chord
changing and to get you playing music fast.

You will find some chord changes to be easier than others. With practice, the easier changes will become
automatic. You wont even have to be thinking about them consciously. You will soon be amazed that your
fingers will just fall into place. This is the muscle memory taking effect that I spoke of earlier in this eBook.

Good fret hand technique, as taught in previous lessons, is vital in order to get proficient at chord changing.
Many of the chord changes that I outline in the coming practice exercises you will see over and over again in
popular songs. So getting these changes down now with good technique will ensure an easier road when
beginning to play songs.

When changing chords utilize the following techniques:

1. Practice good chord change mechanics by switching with only one strum per chord to get used to the
finger movements and to check that all notes of both chords are ringing true. Go back and forth between the
two chords till fluid. Practice back and forth, back and forth and write down the changes you stumble on in
your practice log. Then hit those changes every day for 5-10 minutes.

2. Keep on your fingertips, dont flatten out the fingers. Move your fingers all at once, not one at a time.
Easier said then done, but just go for it.

3. Keep your fingers close to the fretboard at all times in a nice tight cluster. Don’t have your fingers flying out
of position. Keep the fingers in close and tight and dont take your fret hand apart or pull your fret hand away
from the fretboard.

4. Look for shared fingers, clusters, and slides as explained in the lessons below.

5. Keep that pinky finger attached to the side of the third finger and keep your wrist down.

6. When comfortable let your thumb on your fret hand spill over the top of the neck to mute the low E
string on needed chords.

Key Practice: Once you have the chord change mechanics down for a given change, try it while strumming.
Start off very slow and count in time counting quarter notes “One – Two – Three – Four” –change – then
repeat. When you have the change solid with quarter notes then practice the change with a strum pattern. At
first practice chord changes two at a time. Then start putting those two-chord changes together to make three
and four chord changes and BAM!…….you will be playing songs!

29 of 37
 Chord Changing - Shared Fingers
When changing chords examine the fingerings for each chord to determine if there are any common fingered
notes. If one or two fingers are to remain pressed on the same note, then leave them pressed down as you
move to the next chord while moving your other fingers around the common ones.

Its critical that you don’t take any fingers off the neck if you don’t have to, especially if you are just going to
put them right back in the same place with the next chord. Always analyze chord change fingerings in this
fashion, this way there isn’t any extraneous finger movements.

G to Cadd9 change – In the illustration below the two chords share two of the same notes. You want to use
that to your advantage when changing between them. When changing from a G to a Cadd9 chord leave your
third and fourth fingers down on the B and high E strings. There is no reason to pick them up just to put them
right back in the same place.

Just slide your first and second fingers straight down one string each. Slide your fingers right on the strings
leaving them in the same cluster to perform this change fluidly. Don’t lift them straight off the neck, rather
slide them down the strings keeping them as close to the fretboard as possible.

Try the chord change mechanics first without even strumming, just a dry change between the two chords.
Then try the change with a slow quarter note strum. When you are confident making the change with quarter
notes, then try with a strum pattern.

G Cadd9

2 1 0 0 3 4 X 2 1 0 3 4

Key practice chord change exercises: For all the chord changing techniques you will be learning, I will list
specific chord change exercises to practice so you can master each change. The goal is to get each change
fluid. Chart your progress in your practice log and try to practice chord changing 5-10 minutes every day.

At first you wont hit the change every time. You may only find that you can hit it 20% of the time. Just keep
practicing and soon you will get it 45% of the time, then 70% of the time and so on until you have it cold.

Once you have a given change cold you will be able to execute that change in any piece of music. So you
want to knock out as many of the coming two chord changes as possible. Get them all in your back pocket
and then playing songs will be easy as pie!

All the changes on the page below utilize the shared fingers principle. Be sure to practice them every day.
Practice the dry change first and work on the chord change mechanics as taught in the previous lessons.
Work the change back and forth, back and forth, using good fret hand technique, till fluid and comfortable.
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 Shared Fingers Chord Change Practice
Keep in mind that at first you wont get these changes perfect every time. The process includes getting the
mechanics of the change down and working the fingers to move all at the same time together to make the
change. With practice, you will nail the changes more and more consistently until you have them down cold.

C to Am change – In the illustration below, notice the first and second fingers are fretting notes that are
shared between the two chords. Therefore you leave those two fingers down, as they don’t have to be picked
up when executing this change.

C 2 shared notes
Am

X 3 2 0 1 0 X 0 2 3 1 0
Switching from C to Am only requires the movement of the 3rd finger from the 3rd fret of the A string to the A
note on the 2nd fret of the G-string. If needed, nudge your second finger over just a bit to make a little room
for the 3rd finger within that second fret. Leave the first and second fingers in place from the C chord as you
move to the Am chord. Practice this change back and forth until its fluid.

More shared fingers chord changing practice:

Cadd9 to D change – When executing this change leave your third finger down on the 3rd fret of the B
string. That note is shared between both chords. Then at the same time move your first and 2nd fingers
together picking them slightly off the fretboard to finger the D chord. Go back and forth between these two
chords until fluid. Then while strumming, quarter and eighth notes.

D to G change – Utilize the shared finger principle when executing this change by leaving your 3rd finger on
the D note, 3rd fret B strings. Then all together move your first and second fingers up to finger the G chord
while moving your pinky onto the G note, 3rd fret high E string. Practice this movement back and forth.

G to Cadd9 to D - Put the above changes back to back into a three-chord change. After the D chord go back
to the G chord and keep rolling through the three changes.

G to Em change – When changing from G to Em utilize shared fingers by leaving your first finger on the B
note, 2nd fret A string. Then take your second finger from the low E string and slide it under your first finger
on the E note, 2nd fret D string. Lift off the 3rd and 4th fingers to complete the change.

Em to C change - Concentrate on the shared finger, leaving the 2nd finger on the E note on the D string 2nd
fret, and pivot your 1st and 3rd fingers around that note to form the C chord. Move your 1st finger to the C
note on the B string 1st fret, and your 3rd finger to the C note on the A string 3rd fret. Practice pivoting the
first and third fingers together around that shared 2nd finger.

Dm to G change - Leave your third finger on the D note 3rd fret, B string when changing to the G chord.
Move your first and second fingers at the same time up to the G chord position while leaving your third finger
in the same place and then adding your pinky to the 3rd fret of the high E string.
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 Chord Changing - The Cluster Principle
The chord changing techniques you are learning throughout this section of this eBook are absolutely
critical for your guitar success. Earlier we discussed the importance in analyzing chord changes for
shared fingers. Now we will learn about “clustering”.

Clustering is where you can leave your fingers in the same grouping, or “cluster”, as you move
through a chord change. There is no reason to open your hand up and come out of a tight fret finger
grouping when it is not necessary.

By keeping the fingers clustered together you don’t waste time and efforts reshaping your fingers to
voice the next chord. Keeping your fret hand in a tight cluster close to the fretboard at all times
makes changing chords much easier and faster.

Think of it like we want to execute these movements as efficiently as possible with the least amount
of movement necessary.

To illustrate the cluster principle let’s examine changing from E to Am:

E to Am change – Changing from E to Am or Am to E is a fairly simple chord change to execute
because the chord shapes are exactly the same and are played with the exact same fingerings.
Examine the two chords illustration below and notice how the chord shapes are identical, just played
on different strings.

To execute the change from E to Am, concentrate on leaving your fingers in the exact same cluster
as you lift off the E chord and just slide the whole shape down one string. As you move the chord
shape down on the strings, your fingers should not come apart at all. They need to remain in that
tight grouping or cluster.

It’s a quick lift off and put back maneuver. As always do not allow your fingers to come off the fret
board, just slide them right along the strings. Keep them close in and formed in the same shape and
that pinky attached hitching a ride on that third finger. Practice the move back and forth, back and
forth. You will start to notice these cluster changes appear often.

E Am

0 2 3 1 0 0 X 0 2 3 1 0
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 Clusters Chord Change Practice
Follow the same chord changing protocol for practicing the below cluster chord changes as you did for the
shared fingers changes. Remember to execute the changes with the proper fret hand technique and work on
the changes every day. Keep that fret hand in a tight cluster close to the fretboard at all times, DO NOT take
that hand apart or away from the fretboard.

Em to Am change - To switch between the Em and Am chords first play the Em chord with your 2nd and 3rd
fingers, not the usual 1st and 2nd fingers. This will make it easier to execute the chord change.

From Em slide both the 2nd and 3rd fingers down one string each while keeping those two fingers clustered
together in a tight package. At the same time add your 1st finger on the C note on the B string 1st fret to
complete the Am chord.

Then when going back from the Am to the Em just lift the 1st finger off the B string and again leave your 2nd
and 3rd fingers in the same tight cluster, just move them up one string each. Remember to keep your fingers
as close as possible to the fretboard. Practice the mechanics of this change back and forth.

A to Em change – With the A chord you have your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers all on the 2nd fret. When
changing from the A to Em leave your 1st and 2nd fingers clustered and attached together. Just slide them up
one string each keeping them in the same cluster to form the Em chord. Take your 3rd finger slightly off the
fretboard and keep that pinky finger hitching a ride attached to the 3rd finger. Remember to keep your fingers
close to the fretboard, just move them off the strings slightly when you move from the A to the Em chord.

Dm to E change – to execute the change between Dm and E all three fingers will change positions during
the change. The goal is to keep them clustered together and keep that pinky finger attached hitching a ride on
the 3rd finger. The first finger stays on the first fret, just move it up two strings to the G string. At the same
time the 2nd and 3rd fingers move up but stay one under the other and come down at the 2nd fret on the A
and D strings. Remember to keep trying your best to move all fingers at once, not one at a time.

C to D change – This change will give you practice taking all three fingers slightly off the strings and coming
down in another shape. There are no shared fingers in this change. The main point here is to keep your
fingers as close to the fretboard as possible and move them all at the same time when moving between the
chords. You also want to keep that pinky finger attached to the 3rd finger hitching a ride. Keep practicing the
movement in this change and it will get very fluid with time.

Am to Dm change – When executing this change utilize the cluster principle and keep your fingers in the
same basic shape, just spread it out for the extra fret when dropping down to the Dm chord. Although the two
chords do share one note, all three fingers need to change positions. Keep all fingers clustered together and
just slide them in unison one fret distance to finger the D minor chord. Practice this motion until you have it
solid and in time add a strum pattern.

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 Chord Changing - The Slide Principle
At times when changing chords you will have to lift all your fingers off all the notes on the fretboard to
form the next chord. There will be no shared notes and no common clusters between certain
changes. So we want to learn one more chord changing technique to make changing chords as
frustration free as possible.

Even though some changes do not share notes, there are instances where you can keep a finger or
two down on the fretboard and just slide them into position for the next chord. Your fingers wont
come off the fretboard, they will slide down a fret or two.

This slide provides you with a “guide” of sorts that leads you into the next chord. Usually you will find
a slide change example where the next chord has a note on the same string but one or two frets
over. Let’s analyze some chord changes where the slide principle comes in handy.

A to D change – To execute this change leave your third finger on the B string 2nd fret and just slide
it over from the 2nd fret to the 3rd fret when executing the change. Don’t take the 3rd finger off the
fretboard, just slide it up a half step or one fret.

At the same time you are sliding, move the 1st and 2nd fingers down to the D chord keeping the
fingers close to the fretboard and in a tight cluster.

Keep your other fingers close to the fretboard and clustered together coming off the A chord and lift
them slightly off the strings to get to the D chord. Practice that slide maneuver back and forth.

E to D change – To execute this change you will use that first finger to slide into the next chord.
Leave the 1st finger on the G# note, G-string 1st fret and as you start the change to the D slide the
1st finger up one fret, (a half step). At the same time you are sliding, slightly lift the 2nd and 3rd
fingers from the A and D strings and fret the D and F# notes on the B and high E strings to form the
D chord. Keep your hand together and tightly clustered. Practice this motion and soon the slide will
be very fluid that will make chord changing faster and easier.

A to D minor change – This change will incorporate both shared fingers and the slide principle.
These chords share the A note on the G string 2nd fret so leave your 2nd finger down on that A note.
Slide your third finger from the 2nd fret of the B string to the third fret of the B string. Move your first
finger from the E note, 2nd fret D string, to the F note, 1st fret, high E string. Remember, like with the
other changes, you want to train your fingers to execute these moves together at the same time. It
takes practice, but stay positive, keep working on it and it will come!

Be sure to work on all these changing exercises from the lessons on the last few pages 5-10 minutes
every day.
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 Techniques Review
Fret hand and chord changing techniques review
1. Speed - Playing slow and clean is ALWAYS better than fast and sloppy.

2. Technique - Remember to always utilize the proper fret hand and chord changing techniques.

3. Attitude - Stay positive and do not get discouraged. It takes time to get all the chords memorized,
sounding clean, and executing chord changes with strumming patterns. Your playing is an evolution.

4. Chords - When learning new chords, play the chord one note at a time to ensure all notes of the chord
ring true. Each note should sound clean with no dead strings, pops, or overtones from other strings.

5. Changing chords - Focus on moving fingers only slightly off the fret board when changing chords.
Keep your fret hand in a tight cluster and don’t open it up or pull it away from the guitar neck.

6. Pinky finger - Keep you pinky finger attached to your third finger tucked tight and hitching a ride. Also
the wrist should be down, fingers cupped, and stay on your fingertips.

7. Strumming – At first strum very slowly. Strum as slow as necessary to make the changes in time.
Remember that the faster you strum then the faster you will have to make the changes to stay in time.

8. Analyze – Pull chord changes apart and analyze them for shared fingers, clusters, and slides.

Keep practicing two chord changes individually back and forth until they are very fluid. Eventually they
will eventually become automatic. Then tie two chord changes together into three or more chord change
progressions. Remember…Rome was not built in a day. Stay positive, take your time, keep practicing
and it will come!

Four chord change practice example: G - Em - C - D

When taking on multiple chord changes do not feel overwhelmed. Just think of the string as a connected
bunch of two chord changes. Analyze them two at a time. The G to Em change has a shared finger. The
Em to C change also has a shared finger as we execute that change with the pivot maneuver. The
hardest change in this progression will be the change from C to D, as you will have to move all three
fingers off the C chord to change to the D chord. Then the D back to the G has a shared finger.

Break the changes down to two at a time and practice them individually. G to Em, then Em to C, then C
to D, and finally D back to G. When you have all the change mechanics solid for each change then try to
tie them together in time to play the four-chord change. Work through the finger movements first, then
with quarter notes, and then with strum patterns. You will be on your way to learning an endless stream
of songs and enjoying the guitar for the rest of your life - rock on!

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 Notes On The Fretboard
6 5 4 3 2 1
Open Strings
E A D G B E Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie

F Bb Eb G# C F # = Sharp
b = Flat

F# B E A C# F#

The twelve-note scale consists of:

G C F Bb D G A, Bb, B, C, C#, D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, G#

Memorize the order of the 12-note scale

G# C# F# B Eb G# as the notes always appear on the
guitar neck in the above order.

Examine the notes along one string

A D G C E A vertically. Notice how the notes always
repeat in this same order. The notes
then repeat every 12 frets.
Bb Eb G# C# F Bb
Once you have the 12-note scale
memorized start applying it to the frets
B E A D F# B on the guitar and memorizing where the
notes live on the fretboard.

C F Bb Eb G C Take it slow and work on one string at a

time. Start with the low E string. Once
you memorize that string you will also
C# F# B E G# C# know the note names on the high E
string as the note names on those two
strings are the same.
D G C F A D
Once you have the E strings memorized
then move on to the A string, then the D
Eb G# C# F# Bb Eb string, and so on. Chip away at getting
each string down a little each day. Add
learning the notes to your practice log -
E A D G B E you can do it!.

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I hope this eBook and coinciding video lessons help you along in your guitar journey. As a
teacher my goal is to educate, empower, and inspire students to help them reach their guitar and
musical goals.

I wish you the best in all your musical endeavors. Please feel free to email me any questions at
the email address listed below. Keep up all the hard work on that guitar and remember that your
guitar playing is an evolution. It takes time, patience, and dedication. Go after your dreams like
your life depends on it……because it does!

Take care, rock on, and swing for the fences!

David Taub
Epic Guitar Instruction

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